Friday, November 13, 2009

I Am A Hypocrite

Galatians 2:11-13
But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.13 As a result, other Jewish Christians followed Peter's hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

Peter is altering his actions because of his predisposition to justify his faith through his actions. He feels that with whom he associates, how he dresses, what he consumes – circumcision, inform or influence his salvation.
Why does Paul “…oppose him to his face”? Paul understands that Peter’s hypocrisy needs to be sharply denounced because it is, in fact, contrary to the very core of the gospel message. If we can justify, save or even just improve ourselves by changing the way we act then Christ’s death was a waste. The whole idea is that Jesus came for us while we were still sinners, so then when we think that he loves us more when we act better, we basically say, “No thanks, no need” to Jesus.

Philippians 1:10-11
10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return.11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christs—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

If the “Fruit of our salvation” is Christ’s work within us, does that mean that our choices don’t matter? Of course not. But our actions are to be in response to his work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. I act in accordance with scripture because Jesus has impacted my desires - I respond to his grace. Conversely, I will never change my own heart by acting in accordance with scripture. I can’t. I, when I try to act holy to be more sanctified, actually become MORE of a hypocrite. But when my perspective is one of humility and contriteness of heart, “I will change for Jesus because he changed me”, I am accepting the reality that without him I am a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is not a series of actions that can be lessened with effort, it is a state to be saved from. In order to not be a hypocrite I have to admit that I am one.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Treasure

Your love is the perfect measure by which I judge the things that I desire in my heart.

I was thinking, just the other day, about how I might go about marketing the album on which I am currently working. As my mind went through it's paces, as it has thousands of times before with recording projects even less developed, I began to imagine the possibilities for my music. As usual I started to get excited at the thought of the endless success that I hoped to meet with. It happens every time I think about my musical future. Money, fame and satisfaction are all somehow included in the imaginary equation - "I will have enough time to create enough new and interesting music to garner enough fame to make enough money to provide a happy enough environment where I will spend enough time with my family". This is my habitual psychosis. Then after a few minutes of my mental cover of "Further Down The Spiral", a new thought popped into my head. What if God doesn't want me to be famous?

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Class System

As we see an ever-widening gap between the upper and lower class, and the gradual disappearance of the middle class in our society, let's be sure not to encourage class thinking in our faith. Jesus died for all of us. He doesn't love the well-to-do any more or less than those who go without. Just a thought.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Rules for #theoldmangame

Here it is. Basically, when one plays the Old Man Game, one's objective is to use as many words that are no longer popular vernacular but would be found in an old man's vocabulary. This is not to be confused with the Dirty old man game. That's something completely different. The persons present when statements are entered into competition are responsible to judge if the word or phrase counts. You can keep score or not, it's up to your group of friends. This is an open source guideline. Any improvement to rules of play are welcome. Good luck and have fun.